Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 33: Villain’s Second Heart

Long after the mana transfer is completed, Oberyn still stands there with his hand on Ezra's chest. The Nephilim, lost in thought, rests his head in the crook of the human's neck.

"Are you okay?" Ezra asked, snapping him back to reality.

"O-oh," Oberyn blushed, pulling his hand away and taking a step back.

Ezra regretted saying anything. He didn't want Oberyn to break away - in fact, he wished the moment would have never ended.

"I'm sorry," Oberyn murmured. "I was distracted by the sound of your heartbeat."

Ezra's eyes fluttered. The words filled him with warmth. They sounded like something a lover might say.

"It's easy to," Oberyn continued. "Your heartbeat is so strange, after all - you've got two in there. But sometimes, they beat in unison. Your mortal heart, and your 'Second Heart'."

"Is that the official name for it, now?" Ezra snickered. "My 'Second Heart'?"

Oberyn clutched at his own chest wistfully, pulling his kimono shut. He borrowed one from the same closet that Ezra did, but as he was quite a bit more slender and delicate, the kimono was too large for him.

"Not yours. The Villain's Second Heart," he said, speaking almost to himself. "The Harbinger, Alcor's. You're no Harbinger. You didn't choose to have that vile thing inside you."

"I'm glad I have it," Ezra replied softly. "Because it's helping you with your mana, isn't it?"

The words hung in the air, surrounding them in mutual understanding. He was right, after all. Especially now, in the wake of Demetrius' death and Oberyn's escape from Asteria, Ezra's Second Heart was vital to the Nephilim's survival. It was the only thing that could keep the curse at bay until they figured out a long-term solution.

"It is..." Oberyn gulped. There were so many ways to say what he was feeling, but the guarded Nephilim preferred to keep things simple. "Your Second Heart is useful, yes. Regardless of the 'how' you came to be in possession of it. But I worry, sometimes. Such a powerful object, implanted in you. Does it cause you pain?"

Ezra put a hand to his still-exposed chest. There was a cold breeze on the mountain, but it didn't bother him any - his body was still flowing with warmth from Oberyn's touch.

"None at all," Ezra said. "If anything, it gives me so much joy. I might not be a Magician like you, but I've always been fascinated by magic. And that feeling I have - the feeling of all this wild, chaotic power inside my chest...it's really cool."

"Cool?"

Oberyn couldn't help but chuckle. Ezra sounded so naive and innocent when he said things like that. "Yes. I suppose if you look past all the evil it represents, it is 'cool'."

A gust of cool wind, stronger than normal, blew through the open area they stood in. Ezra noticed Oberyn's delicate frame shiver slightly.

"Let's get some rest, huh?" he said, moving slightly in the direction of his room.

"I'm not sleepy," Oberyn answered. "But yes. It's probably for the best if I get off my feet, huh? I don't want to overdo it."

'This coming from someone who was about to have a whole Magician battle,' Ezra thought to himself, but the humor of the situation was stale.

The only reason that Oberyn didn't fight is because of Ezra's manipulation, after all.

He led Oberyn back to the room - the Nephilim, cute as it was, struggled to remember the exact way.

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When they entered the room, they saw that the sheets on the bed had already been replaced, no doubt by Rav's magic. Ezra was grateful for that; the sheets had gotten a fair amount of blood on them from when Oberyn was first laid down.

Wordless, Oberyn stripped down naked when they got into the room. Ezra supposed he shouldn't be surprised at that point - he'd already seen Oberyn naked once, and he had a pretty good understanding of Nephilim biology at this point. But they'd only eaten just minutes prior, and Oberyn informed him he wasn't quite ready to 'glow'.

Ezra knew that Oberyn didn't mind if he looked, but he still did everything in his power to keep his eyes focused on anything but the Nephilim. Even though he really wanted to look.

They laid down in the bed together, and Ezra realized this might be the last night such a thing ever happened. Tomorrow, once things were more 'normal', he was sure that Rav would get a room set aside for Oberyn. After all, the pagoda had several empty bedrooms available.

Still, Oberyn didn't seem to mind - or at least if he did, he didn't mention it. He crawled under the blankets and lay on his side, facing Ezra.

"Do you always sleep fully clothed?" Oberyn asked as they lay together only inches apart. The Nephilim had wondered the same thing when they shared a bed at Cliff's house, but he didn't bring it up at the time.

Ezra turned red as a tomato the moment Oberyn spoke.

"N-no," he said. "But..."

"Are you...uncomfortable, because I'm here?"

"That's not it at all!" Ezra objected. "But, two guys in a bed together is weird enough! If we were both naked..."

Oberyn wrapped the sheets around him tighter, suddenly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't mind at all, Oberyn."

"Is it because I don't look like other guys?"

His voice was heavy. The embarrassment of Rav seeing him naked earlier weighed on his mind, and the casual joke Rav had made about it only made him feel more self-conscious about his body.

"It's because you're adorable," Ezra said. The words slipped out before he could give proper thought to what he was saying. After he belted them out, anxiety began to creep in.

'He's going to think that's so weird...' Ezra fretted. But another thought lingered in the back of his mind as well.

"You think I'm...adorable?" Oberyn wondered aloud. Only one other person had ever called him that...Demetrius. But when Ezra said it, the word didn't feel violating. It was freeing. A compliment that warmed his heart.

"Of course I do. And so...that's why I'm keeping my clothes on."

Oberyn ran a hand through his blond locks. "You want to have clothes on...because I'm adorable?"

It didn't make any sense to him, unversed as he was in human sexuality. But the comment, along with the lingering sting of Rav's joke, led him to another epiphany.

Oberyn swallowed, his body squirming against the sheets. His voice was soft, almost tentative. "What if I...wanted to see?"

Ezra's heart froze.